CAMBODIA has this year already surpassed total milled rice exports for 2008, a government official said Wednesday.

Through the end of August, the Kingdom exported 8,000 tonnes of milled rice, mainly to Europe, Africa and the rest of Asia, Mao Thora, secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce said on the sidelines of a rice-production seminar in Phnom Penh.

Although he was unable to give an exact figure for 2008, he said Cambodia exported about 5,000 tonnes of milled rice last year. Mao Thora said he expected the country to export more than 10,000 tonnes in 2009.

The government has this year made available US$18 million to the sector for purchasing rice and improving processing capacity through the Rural Development Bank, its Chairman and CEO Son Koun Thor told Wednesday’s conference.

However, Mao Thora said, more funds are needed to develop the rice industry.

“The problem for us now is whether we have enough milled rice for export,” he told the Post, adding that lacking technology and capacity, as well as insufficient credit in agricultural continue to pose problems.